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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: DAVID KHOL <yttrtr@msn.com>
Reply-To: <kholdavi@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 13:00:06 +0000
Subject: Hello
DEAR,
MY NAME IS DAVID KHOL A HOUSE HELP TO THE LATE HEAD OF STATE,FEDERAL
REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA GENERAL SANI ABACHA WHO DIED SINCE 8TH OF JUNE 1998 AS
A RESULT OF HEART ATTACK.
PLEASE KINDLY KEEP THIS MATTER CONFIDENTIAL WHEN I LEARNT A BOUT HIS DEAD
I ENTERED HIS ROOM MOVE A BOX THAT CONTAIN $25MILLION USD, AND DEPOSITED
IT WITH INTERNATIONAL FINANCE AND SECURITY COMPANY ACCRA GHANA HEAD OFFICE
AS A FAMILY TREASURE.
I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE TO MOVE THIS MONEY OUT OF AFRICA TO ANY COUNTRY OF
YOUR CHOICE WHERE IT WILL BE INVESTED INTO A PROFITABLE BUSINESS .I NEED
YOUR INFORMATION WITH PHONE NUMBER.
I WILL GIVE YOU 30% OF THE TOTAL FUND.THIS IS 100% RISK FREE.FEEL FREE TO
ASK ME QUESTIONS.
AS SOON AS YOU RESPOND I WILL LET YOU KNOW THE NEXT STEP.
REGARDS,
DAVID
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Anti-fraud resources:
